A Little Stuffed Loving
by KyuubixChocolateCake
Summary: "Before she had left, he had bought her a doll. Okay, yes, she was basically a grown woman, and, alright, he was an ass to her most of the time, but she was going to be gone from him any day now, completely out of his reach." Ichigo and Rukia, before, during, and after the 17 months. Ichiruki. Present for Rukia's birthday! WARNING! Will contain spoilers for current end of anime!


_A Little Stuffed Loving  
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_Chapter 1_

_~…~…~_

Before she had left, before the fiasco with Aizen and the Espada in both the fake and real Karakura Town, he had bought her a doll.

Okay, yes, she was basically a grown woman, and, alright, even he could admit that he was probably an ass to her most of the time. But, his _shinigami_ powers were getting weaker, and she was going to be gone from him any day now, completely out of his reach.

So when he saw the little stuffed bunny, a celebrity among young children (and weird-ass midgets like her), sitting in the display of a stationary shop in town, he stopped, stared at it for a moment, then walked in and bought it.

The young woman behind the counter raised an eyebrow, but smiled kindly and rang it up as he handed her the smiling yellow rabbit, its large ears floppy and soft, made from a velvety material. Obviously, this thing was expertly crafted to appeal to and soothe young children.

"Is this for your baby sister?" she asked curiously.

"No," he said, scowling slightly as heat began to pool in his cheeks, "it's for a friend." She blinked in surprise, but an even wider grin covered her mouth in the next second, and a knowing twinkle shone in her eyes.

"She must be a pretty great _friend_ if a tough-looking guy like you is buying this here limited edition 'Summer Days' Chappy the Rabbit."

"She's…. moving," Ichigo said evasively, running a hand through his orange locks embarrassedly. Then, he thought about what she had just said, and his eyebrows furrowed. "Wait – limited edition?" She nodded.

"Yup, this little fella is only available this summer, and I'm not even sure that the company is planning on making special ones for the other seasons, since one didn't some out in the spring." He nodded thoughtfully, but noticed that she suddenly looked very sympathetic. He scowled again; why was she feeling sorry for him?

'_I mean, sure it sucks that she's leaving, but I'm not – I'm not sad or anything! In fact, I'm glad my life will finally be normal!_' he thought determinedly, pulling out his wallet to pay her. The girl handed the small bag containing the stuffed bunny to him, and he pushed his somewhat depressing thoughts away, mumbling a thank-you.

However, before he had fully left the shop, the girl shouted after him, "You should tell her how you feel!" He whirled, sputtering incoherently, his cheeks burning horribly.

"It's not like-!" he started, only to see that she was gone, the backroom door still swinging slightly from her speedy departure. He was beginning to feel like an idiot as he stood in the doorway of the shop, mouth agape, and people staring as they continued to walk by. Snapping his mouth shut, he turned on his heel and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans, head down as he walked at a brisk pace in the direction of his house.

'_It's not like that!_' he thought furiously to himself, his face still warm and pink. '_I don't like her as anything more than a friend! I'm not even going to miss her!_' But even he knew that that was a lie.

_~…~…~_

_**WHEW! Man that felt good! It's been forever since I wrote anything with the intention of putting it up ASAP! But this idea has been sitting on my brain for a while, ever since I saw the picture that I'm using as the cover. And speaking of which, I don't know who made that little snippet of adorableness, but it definitely not me! I'll give credit where credit was due, and to whoever made it, I'm sorry that I don't know who you are! Please don't be mad if you see this!**_

_**Ahem, back to what I was saying before, I haven't really been that motivated to publish anything in a while, but I figured that it would be nice to give one of my favorite characters in BLEACH a little something-something for her birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RUKIA-CHAN!**_

_**Anyways, this story is a multi-chapter piece of work, but it isn't going to be too long, at most five chapters long. So hopefully everyone will see it as short and sweet! And if all goes as planned, then it should be done by the end of this week, or the end of next week! I'm going to try really hard at getting it out at a good pace. **_

_**I think that that should cover just about everything that I wanted to say, so I'll just leave all you lovely people with this: please review, favorite, follow, any or all of those things! I'd really appreciate it! **_

_**See you soon!**_

_**-NT **_


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